A recently discovered piece of space junk will plunge into the ocean 100 kilometers ( 62 miles ) off the south seashore of Sri Lanka on Friday , November 13 , at around 12 p.m. local time . The object is a rareness among space debris   as scientist were able to not only tag its trajectory but also to accurately predict where it ’s survive to impact .

It was keep an eye on for the first time on February 18 , 2013 , by theCatalina Sky Survey , a programme that looks for near - Earth object ( NEOs ) such as potentially dangerous asteroids and comet . Named WT1190F , it ’s a few meters in diameter and   has   a very low density , about one - one-tenth of water . Such a low value is tall for a natural object , point that it ’s almost certainly   of artificial origin , most likely a discarded fuel tank or the upper stage of a rocket .

It has a highly eccentric orbit , ranging between more than 600,000 kilometers ( 373,00 miles )   to just below 36,000 kilometers ( 22,000 miles ) from Earth . The motion of the physical object has been importantly influenced by solar radiation insistence : light source ray of light from the Sun have promote WT1190F more and more towards the Earth , like how the   wind pushes a sailing boat forrad .

The object is not massive enough to cause equipment casualty , and it will most likely burn through the atmospheric state before re - entry . Astronomers trust that the aim will create quite the show across the midday sky , cauterize brightly for a few seconds .

Scientists at ESA ’s NEO Coordination Centre ( NEOCC ) consider   this event is a unique chance to try how astronomers would organize if a severe object was approach us . The NEOCC will run observational crusade across the macrocosm to collect as much information as potential on this object in the upcoming weeks .

“ The first destination will be to good understand the reentry of satellite and debris from extremely eccentric orbits , ” Marco Micheli , an astronomer working at the NEOCC , said in astatement . “ Second , it provides an idealistic chance to essay our readiness for any possible future atmospheric entry events involving an asteroid , since the components of this scenario , from uncovering to impact , are all very alike . ”

There is presently no coordinated plan to track space debris beyond the lower area .